Device for cleaning roadways and similar surfaces



Oct. 6, 1964 w. MAASBERG 3,151,348

DEVICE FOR CLEANING ROADWAYS AND SIMILAR SURFACES Filed Feb. 2. 1962Wolfgang MAASBERG Jnventor: y

AG EN'T United States Patent 3,151,348 DEVICE FOR CLEANING RQADWAYS ANDSAR SURFACES Wolfgang Maasberg, ulheim (Ruhr), Germany, assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Woma-Apparatebau Wolfgang Maasberg & Co.,G.m.b.H., Duisburg, Germany Filed Feb. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 171,332 9Claims. (Cl. 15320) The present invention relates to the cleaning ofroadways (e.g. prior to final surfacing), factory floors and similarsurfaces.

In road construction it is customary to provide a packed substrate ofcrushed rock and to cover it with a ballast layer of sand and coarsegravel impregnated with a preferably bituminous filler. This roadbed,after having been compacted by suitable means such as rollers, isgenerally allowed to set for several months under traflic conditions andis subsequently covered by a surface coating of, for example, finegravel and a bituminous binder. A careful cleansing of the roadbed isrequired prior to application of the surface coating if a satisfactorybonding between the layers is to be insured; this requirement alsoapplies to the resurfacing of damaged roadways. The foreign matter isusually picked out between the rocks by pointed sticks, in a laboriousand imperfect manner, and is blown out of the way by compressed air. Asimilar procedure is also followed prior to be filling of cracks betweencobblestones with tar or asphalt.

The use of street-cleaning machines with rotating brushes and suctionheads for removing street dirt by vacuum action has been foundineffectual, the same being true of sprinklers in combination withoblique brush rollers designed to sweep the dirt toward the gutter.Attempts to flush the roadbed with water have failed since in suchprocess the liquid only carries the dirt deeper into the substrate. a

It is, therefore, the general object of my presentinvention to providean improved system for cleaning roadways to be surfaced, as Well aslarge, heavily soiled floor areas of industrial buildings or the like,in an eflicient manner avoiding the inconveniences set forth above.

I have found, in accordance with the instant invention, that this objectmay be realized by means of a water spray directed at high pressure,suitably of the order of 50-100 atmospheres, onto the surface to becleaned at an angle of attack which should be between about 25-40preferably near 30.

In an advantageous arrangement the Water spray reflected from thesurface to be cleaned is caught and recirculated after the entraineddust and dirt particles have settled out. The power needed forrecirculating the water so purified may be obtained, in a preferredembodiment, from the engine of an automotive vehicle to which the sprayand catch means have been attached. These spray and catch means mayinclude a battery of nozzles and a generally horizontal collectorcomprising a trough and a hood, the latter being open toward the arrayof nozzles and so positioned as to intercept the reflected streams fromthese nozzles. The hood may be of progressively increasing height, thenarrow end of the hood being positioned relatively close to the sprayerwhile its wider end is relatively remote therefrom. The collector isthen advantageously positioned at an acute angle to the direction ofvehicular motion and may conveniently be equipped with asurface-contacting blade adapted to sweep aside any larger objects inthe path of the machine. The sprayer itself may extend at right anglesto the direction of motion or, if desired, may be arranged substantiallymirror-symmetrically to the collector with reference to a vertical planeperpendicular to that direction.

The above and other features of my invention will be more fully apparentfrom the following detailed description of certain embodiments,reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of an automotive vehicle equipped witha street-cleaning attachment according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top-plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the front portion of a vehicle with aslightly modified attachment.

In the drawing 1 have shown a sanitation truck 4 with engine 5, frontwheels 6a, rear wheels 6b and drivers cab 7. The truck 4 carries a waterreservoir 8, a settling tank 9 and means, including a high-pressure pump3 and a suction pump 13, for circulating water from the reservoir 8 to amanifold tube 1 and returning it from a collecting trough 12 to thesettling tank 9. Manifold 1 is provided with a series of horizontallyarrayed nozzles 2 adapted to create flat, fan-shaped sprays 10; thesesprays are directed at an angle of approximately toward the groundsurface 11 and are reflected therefrom at a somewhat lesser angle, thetrough 12 with its hood 15 being so positioned as to intercept thereflected sprays 10a.

The pump 3 generates a pressure of approximately 50 to atmospheres andhas an inlet pipe 16 terminating at a screened intake 17 within the tank9, this intake being advantageously provided with suitable filter meansnot shown. The discharge pipe 18 of pump 3 includes a valve 19" andopens into the tank 8 from which a conduit 19 leads into manifold 1. Areturn pipe 14 extends from the bottom of trough 12 toward the pump 13which delivers the collected spray water to the tank 9. Pumps 3 and 13may be driven from the engine 5 via suitable transmission means notshown.

The collector 12, 15 is suspended from the hood of the engine by a pairof braces 20, 21 and is shown provided at its bottom with a blade 22which scrapes the roadway 11 to turn aside large pebbles and othermatter liable to obstruct the water circulation if swept up by thespray. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the manifold 1 with its nozzles 2 extendstransversely across the path of the vehicle 4, at substantially thelevel of the wheel hubs which may be approximately 40 to 50 cm. aboveground, whereas in FIG. 3 it has been illustrated in an obliquehorizontal position substantially mirror-symmetrical to that of thecollector. In FIG. 3, furthermore, the hood overlying the trough 12' hasbeen shown composed of a plurality of generally horizontal metal strips15.

Although both the trough 12 or 12 and the manifold tube 1 have beendepicted as substantially horizontal, they could also be slightlyinclined so long as their relative position is such as to insure theinterception of most of the reflected spray water by the hood of thecollector. I have found that, with the arrangement herein disclosed,substantially all the water can be returned to the system forrecirculation and no puddles are left on the surface and that only 1 to2.5 liters of water are needed for each square meter of surface to becleaned. The apparatus described is, therefore, also well suited for thescrubbing of factory floors, large patios and similar areas. Naturally,the attachment comprising the sprayer 1 and the collector 12, 15 or 12,15 may also be secured to the rear end of the truck 4 or to either endof some other type of vehicle, e.g. a trailer or a handcart withoutengine. Thus, the invention admits of various modifications withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A street-cleaning attachment for a vehicle having an engine,comprising nozzle means above the ground, said nozzle means beingtrained at an angle of attack of about 25 to 45 toward the ground, asource of water connected to said nozzle means, said source having anoutlet pressure sutlicient to cause reflectionof a spray from saidnozzle means from the ground, collector means forwardly of said nozzlemeans for intercepting at least part of the reflected spray Water, and arecirculation sys tem for purifying the intercepted water and returningit to said source, said nozzle means comprising a generally horizontalmanifold tube with an array of spray nozzles longitudinally disposedthereon, said collector means having one end relatively close to saidtube and another end relatively remote from said tube.

2. An attachment according to claim 1 wherein said collector meanscomprises a generally horizontal trough provided with a hood open towardsaid manifold tube, said hood increasing progressively in height fromsaid one end to said other end.

3. An attachment according to claim lwherein said trough is providedwith a dependent scraper blade positioned to contact the ground.

4. A street-cleaning attachment for a vehicle having an engine,comprising horizontally extending, elongated nozzle means above theground transverse to the direction of movement of the vehicle, saidnozzle means being trained at an angle of attack of about 25 to 45toward the ground, a source of water connected to said nozzle means,said source having an output pressure sufiicient to cause reflection ofa spray from said nozzle means from the ground, linearly extendinggenerally elongated collector means transverse to said directionforwardly of said nozzle means for intercepting at least part of thereflected spray water, and a recirculation system for purifying theintercepted water and returning it to said source, said system includingpump means coupled with said engine.

5. A street-cleaning attachment for a vehicle having an engine,comprising nozzle means above the ground, said nozzle means beingtrained at an angle of attack of about 25 to 45 toward the ground, asource of Water connected to said nozzle means, said source having anoutput pressure sufiicient to cause reflection of a spray from saidnozzle means from the ground, collector means forwardly of said nozzlemeans for intercepting at least part of the reflected spray water, and arecirculation system for purifying the intercepted water and returningit to said source, said system including pump means coupled with saidengine, said collector means comprising a generally horizontal troughwith 21 depending groundcontacting scraper blade inclined at an acuteangle to the direction of motion of the vehicle.

6. An attachment according to claim 5 wherein said nozzle means forms asubstantially horizontal array of nozzles extending generallytransversely to said direction of motion, said trough having one endrelatively close to said array and another end relatively remotetherefrom.

7. An attachment according to claim 6 wherein said collector meansfurther comprises a hood above said trough open toward said collectormeans.

8. An attachment according to claim 7 wherein said hood progressivelyincreases in height from said one end to said other end.

9. A street-cleaning attachment for a vehicle, comprising nozzle meansabove the ground, said nozzle means being trained at an angle of attackof about 25 to toward the ground, a source of water connected to saidnozzle means, said source having an output pressure sufficient to causereflection of a spray from said nozzle means from the ground, collectormeans for intercepting at least part of the reflected spray Water, and arecirculation system including pump means for purifying the interceptedwater, and returning it to said source, said collector means comprisinga generally horizontal trough with a depending ground-contacting scraperblade inclined at an acute angle to the direction of motion of thevehicle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS554,168 Beckwith Feb. 4, 1896 936,842 Wilson Oct. 12, 1909 1,260,547Kern Mar. 26, 1918 1,955,199 Menge Apr. 17, 1934 2,015,875 Sloan Oct. 1,1935 2,050,634 Stegemann Aug. 11, 1936 2,090,637 Paige Aug. 24, 19372,223,963 Nadig Dec. 3, 1940 2,394,760 Felton Feb. 12, 1946 2,661,982Hudson Dec. 8, 1953 2,889,994 French June 9, 1959 3,011,206 BreitherDec. 5, 1961

9. A STREET-CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR A VEHICLE, COMPRISING NOZZLE MEANSABOVE THE GROUND, SAID NOZZLE MEANS BEING TRAINED AT AN ANGLE OF ATTACKOF ABOUT 25 TO 45* TOWARD THE GROUND, A SOURCE OF WATER CONNECTED TOSAID NOZZLE MEANS, SAID SOURCE HAVING AN OUTPUT PRESSURE SUFFICIENT TOCAUSE REFLECTION OF A SPRAY FROM SAID NOZZLE MEANS FROM THE GROUND,COLLECTOR MEANS FOR INTERCEPTING AT LEAST PART OF THE REFLECTED SPRAYWATER, AND A RECIRCULATION SYSTEM INCLUDING PUMP MEANS FOR PURIFYING THEINTERCEPTED WATER, AND RETURNING IT TO SAID SOURCE, SAID COLLECTOR MEANSCOMPRISING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL TROUGH WITH A DEPENDINGGROUND-CONTACTING SCRAPER BLADE INCLINED AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO THEDIRECTION OF MOTION OF THE VEHICLE.